West Bank: Netanyahu vows 1967 scale operation after Hebron checkpoint killings

Two soldiers were killed and three others wounded when gunmen attacked an Israeli checkpoint near Hebron on Friday. The firefight lasted approximately 20 minutes until soldiers killed the attackers. Israeli military officials stated that soldiers were behind concrete barriers when the shooting began.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a military operation in the West Bank described by him as "on a scale not seen since the Six Day War." That conflict occurred almost 60 years ago when Israel first occupied the territory. Speaking in a televised address from the attack site, Netanyahu said, "We will act to demolish this place, to change it completely."

Bulldozers began flattening homes in the neighborhood near the shooting site on Friday afternoon. The military is forcing hundreds of Palestinians out of the area. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, urged foreign governments to intervene to prevent "another wave of ethnic cleansing and war crimes."

Netanyahu compared the planned operation to last year's Israeli assault on two Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank. That conflict displaced tens of thousands of people. Human Rights Watch stated those expulsions amounted to war crimes, a charge Israel rejects.

The violence occurs during a surge of land seizures by Israeli settlers. The United Nations Human Rights Office for the occupied Palestinian territory has described the situation as a "new level of dehumanization of Palestinians." Israel has imposed widespread closures in Hebron, the most populous city in the occupied West Bank. The territory contains approximately 925 checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers that restrict movement.

National elections are scheduled for October 27. Polls show Netanyahu and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, running neck and neck. Neither candidate currently has enough support to form a government. Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, noted that Netanyahu wants to appear strong to voters. "For Netanyahu, his ticket before the election is, 'I'm Mr. Security,'" Citrinowicz said. He called the eviction of families without evidence linking them to the gunmen "collective punishment."

Citrinowicz argued that authorities should arrest those planning attacks while helping others who want to live peacefully. "The way to prevent [more attacks by Palestinians] is not collective punishment. It's by giving hope," he said.